This application relates to a heat exchanger having a unique arrangement of flow passages.
Heat exchangers are utilized in various applications and typically cool one fluid by exchanging heat with a secondary fluid. In one type of arrangement, heat is exchanged between the fluids across a shared wall separating adjacent hot and cold passages. Traditionally, these have had equal and constant cross-sections along the length of the heat exchanger.
There have been proposals to create heat exchangers with hot and cold passages using additive manufacturing such that their cross-sectional size decrease as the passages are divided further downstream. Such branching can increase pressure drop in the passages and reduce effective heat transfer length. The feasibility of manufacturing such heat exchangers has been limited by the state of additive manufacturing technology.
The branched hot and cold passages are interleaved with one another and include circular cross-sections through the passages. The walls separating the adjacent circular passages vary substantially in thickness, which reduces heat transfer effectiveness between the hot and cold passages.
The above features can contribute to losses in cooling efficiency.